rachel maddow

"When we decide as a nation to go to war, it shouldn't be: We're sending the military to war," Rachel Maddow said on 'Real Time With Bill Maher' (Fri., 10PM ET on HBO). "The country should feel like we are at war."

Her concern is that by distancing our men from the dangers of war might distance Americans from the very fact that we are at war. It's certainly an interesting argument, though the counter-argument could be made that Americans have been disconnected from the fact that we are at war right now now and that soldiers are in danger every day.

Now that the debt ceiling debate is settled, MSNBC has turned its attention to more important matters. The network has signed Rachel Maddow to a multi-year contract extension that runs through the 2012 election, according to a report in The Hollywood Reporter. MSNBC chief Phil Griffin confirmed the news at MSNBC's TCA Panel.

Since it premiered in late 2008, 'The Rachel Maddow Show' has occupied MSNBC's 9PM hour, and has gradually gained prominence, and ratings. It now consistently averages over 1 million viewers per night and ranks 2nd in the 9 PM cable news standings, behind Fox's Sean Hannity but ahead of 'Piers Morgan Tonight' on CNN.

On 'Reliable Sources' (Sundays, 9PM ET on CNN), Larry King spoke about Fox News' Sean Hannity and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, both of whom had been his cable news time slot competitors during the last few years of 'Larry King Live.'

King acknowledged they both used to beat him in the ratings, but said he did not regret not being more forthcoming with his own opinions, as Hannity and Maddow are.

"They're both very good at what they do" King explained. "But I never learned anything while I was talking. So what they are are preachers. They're preachers of their opinion. They're telling you what they know. They're not learning. There's no learning experience from either of those programs. They're just telling you what they know."

This week's 'Saturday Night Live' (Saturday, 11:30 PM ET on NBC) cold-opened with a spoof of the 'Rachel Maddow Show,' in which Nancy Pelosi, played by Kristen Wiig, John Boehner, played by Bill Hader, and Charlie Rangel, played by Kenan Thompson, were guests.

It wasn't one of SNL stronger political skits, as most of the humor veered toward the cheap and obvious:

"Hello, young man," was how Rangel greeted Maddow. "Orange you glad I didn't mention the color of your face?" Maddow asked Boehner.

Jon Stewart proved he can take a beating from critics -- including the Left-leaning ones. The 'Daily Show' (weeknights, 11PM ET on COM) host had a tongue-in-cheek response for those who've taken issue with his Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear: another rally.

For some background, the program played a collection of negative commentary on the rally, including Keith Olbermann's contention on MSNBC that Stewart drew a "false equivalence between what we do here and what Fox News and the like do there," and Bill Maher's suggestion that Stewart attend church to "reach across the aisle and hold hands and sing with someone on the Right."

Stewart's answer? A new "Rally to Determine Precisely the Percentage of Blame to Be Doled Out to the Left and the Right for Our Problems..." (Yes, it continues.)

Keith Olbermann's "indefinite" suspension from MSNBC will end Tuesday, only four days after it began.

MSNBC president Phil Griffin, who suspended Olbermann Friday for making political contributions to three Democratic party candidates, without first disclosing the donations to MSNBC brass, had this to say about the reinstatement:

"After several days of deliberation and discussion, I have determined that suspending Keith through and including Monday night's program is an appropriate punishment for his violation of our policy. We look forward to having him back on the air Tuesday night."

Media watchers on both sides of the political spectrum have criticized MSNBC's decision to take Olbermann off the air, arguing that since Olbermann is a political commentator who makes no effort to hide his liberal point of view, it shouldn't be an issue if he gives money to democratic candidates.

Rich Whitney is perfectly good name for a political candidate. If you remove the 'n' from that equation, however, you have a problem.

On 'The Rachel Maddow Show,' (Weekdays, 9 PM ET on MSNBC) Maddow explained how a typo had made Illinois Green Party Candidate for governor Rich Whitney into Rich Whitey.

"It turns out that not all 'N's' in the middle of words are created equal," Maddow quipped. "The Green Party candidate for governor is on the ballot as "Rich Whitey" in 23 wards, 11 of which are in predominately African-American communities."

Whitney is understandably furious, but it should be noted that the "Whitey" typo -- which they will not be able to fix before the election -- only comes up on the ballot review screen. So it will only cost Whitney votes if folks who had already punched his name then have second thoughts because they notice he is being referred to as 'Whitey.'

Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell has been making headlines in recent weeks for her history of bizarre statements and positions. Responding to the heavy media scrutiny, O'Donnell vowed to stop doing national press so she could focus on local Delaware issues and voters. But as Rachel Maddow discovered when she took her show (weekdays, 9 PM on MSNBC) on a field trip to Delaware, O'Donnell appears to have gone underground even there.

Maddow sent her producers to O'Donnell's campaign headquarters, but their efforts to snag an interview with the unusual candidate were rebuffed as "unacceptable" by a campaign staffer once the producers revealed they were representing 'The Rachel Maddow Show.'

"'That's unacceptable' was his response to you saying the name of the show," Maddow repeated back to her producer, upon hearing the bad news.

"Yup," said the producer. "And then he said that you have been classless (toward O'Donnell.)"

O'Donnell might be confused about evolution, but at least she has hired people smart enough to realize that O'Donnell probably wouldn't have come out of an interview with Maddow looking good.

Joe Biden's blunt manner of speaking can get him in trouble sometimes. But appearing on 'The Rachel Maddow Show' (weekdays 9 PM ET on MSNBC) the Vice President used that trait to effectively hammer home the point that progressive Democrats need to get more involved in the 2010 election, or risk having everything Biden believes the Obama Administration has accomplished get undone.

Addressing the "enthusiasm" gap that seems to exist between the revved-up Tea Party and the sleepy Democratic base, Biden offered progressives a stark pep-talk. "One of the reason I want to be on your show, is to tell progressives out there to get in gear, man," Biden told Maddow. "First of all, there is a great deal of stake."

Biden then listed the regulation of tobacco, hate crime laws, and insurance for kids as Obama administration accomplishments that could be undone if the GOP takes over the Congress.

"Our progressive base, you should not stay home," Biden continued. "You better get energized. Because the consequence are serious for the outcome of the things we care most about."

On 'The Rachel Maddow Show', (weekdays, 9PM on MSNBC) Maddow played video of a speech from Phil Davison, a candidate for the position of treasurer in Stark County, Ohio.

Describing the speech, Maddow said it "practically bled with raw gut churning passion that definitely could not have been faked."

In the speech, Davison immediately falls into an uncontrolled -- but ostensibly motivational -- freak out. The type of which is generally only heard when a commander is about to lead his troops into a battle that there is no coming back from.

"He didn't win," Maddow deadpanned after the clip was done. However, a few moments later, Maddow couldn't help but mimic Davison's infectious -- if politically unsuccessful -- speaking style.

"It is an issue that has led to many a Sunday School threat that an angry God will strike you blind, or make you grow hair on your arms." Rachel Maddow teased, on 'The Rachel Maddow Show' (Weekdays, 9 PM ET on MSNBC).

"It is an issue that is very difficult for a person who blushes easily to discuss on television without the help of extra heavy-duty makeup. But it is an issue that is becoming unavoidable in one very high profile race for the United States Senate."

Then, about fifteen minutes after this breathless introduction, Maddow ran a quote from Christine O'Donnell, a Tea Party-backed candidate for US Senate who has an outside chance of upsetting GOP-establishment candidate Mike Castle in the Delaware primary Tuesday.

So what did O'Donnell say, on the salacious topic of self-love? Well, she once said this:

"The Bible says that lust in your heart is committing adultery. So you can't masturbate without lust."

A wacky take on things, sure, but probably not blush worthy -- even for a self-confessed easy blusher.

As she was detailing the ways they did so, a sinister thing happened: her mic cut off.

After an unplanned commercial break, her audio was restored.

"It's really weird. It is not like I'm on a satellite feed or anything," Maddow explained. "I'm in my home studio in New York, and what I lost was the audio of the hard wired mic that I wear that pins me to my desk ... nothing like that's ever happened before. I'm such a conspiracy theorist I can't tell you what I'm thinking right now, it would discredit me forever."

The new reality show 'Bomb Patrol: Afghanistan' was a topic of discussion on last night's 'Rachel Maddow Show,' (weeknights, 9 PM ET on MSNBC) and Rachel is not a fan of the concept.

The ten episode reality series, which will follow a bomb squad unit in Afghanistan and run on G4, is being produced with the blessing of the U.S. Navy. Still, Rachel worried that packaging the war as entertainment is a dangerous line to cross.

After Bill O'Reilly accused Rachel Maddow of spreading what he believes to be the false and "preposterous" theory that Fox News wants to frighten white people by reporting negatively about black people, Maddow struck back on 'The Rachel Maddow Show' (Weeknights, 9PM on MSNBC).

Playing the old video gotcha game, Maddow was able to produce a clip in which O'Reilly talks about how blacks are more likely to favor a bigger federal government than whites, which she offers as proof that Fox News hypes stories about "scary black people taking white people's stuff."

She also added that she has "no interest" in pulling an Olbermann and playing "cable news insult ping pong" with O'Reilly, but that's a bit hard to believe because she seems to be having herself an awfully good time doing exactly that.

The host of the 'Late Show' (weeknights, 11:35PM ET on CBS) said, "I have a theory about Bill O'Reilly -- smart guy and I think he knows better than what he's doing. But he's just found a place to make a living," said Letterman. "He's just doing this because that's where the money is. I don't think you can be as smart as he is and actually believe what he [says he] believes."

The MSNBC host listened politely but disagreed. "I don't know ... He got very upset with me. He called me a loon. I think loons are cute!"

The debate then ended abruptly when Letterman suggested they trade glasses.